Starbucks and Dunkin’ saw an uptick in visit growth in Q3 2025 as they entered the holiday season, “signaling renewed consumer enthusiasm after early-year softness,” reported foot traffic research firm Placer.ai in its latest report.

“Both Starbucks and Dunkin’ outperformed their 2024 traffic levels in Q3 2025. Starbucks visits rose 0.7% year-over-year in Q3, following slight declines in Q1 (-1.0%) and Q2 (-0.2%). Dunkin’ showed a similar trajectory—rebounding from a 1.8% drop in Q1 to a 1.7% increase in both Q2 and Q3. These gains suggest that both brands have successfully reignited customer visits heading into the critical holiday season, when limited-time drinks and seasonal marketing tend to drive engagement,” Placer.ai wrote.

The data highlights the impact of seasonal limited-time offerings in the QSR coffee space. Starbucks’ Bearista cup launch, which coincided with the same day the retailer’s holiday menu rolled out, propelled visits up 11.9% year over year during the week of its launch.

“And the strong visit trends continued the following week [at Starbucks] with a 6.2% year-over-year increase, helped by an impressive ‘Red Cup Day’ performance and highlighting Starbucks' capacity for generating demand with limited-time offerings,” the research firm noted.

Meanwhile, Dunkin’s Wicked collab, which was announced along with its holiday menu launch, also generated traffic boosts to the QSR, with visits up 3.5% year over year during the two weeks following the launch, according to data.

“As competition in the coffee category intensifies, both brands’ early-season success highlights the growing importance of timing and tradition in driving visit growth,” Placer.ai concluded.

Curious how you can take ideas from the coffee QSR space and implement them in the c-store industry? Check out “C-Store Coffee Station Innovation” in the December 2025 issue of NACS Magazine.